Carbon build up

[Wow]

We've all heard how bad carbon building up is for engines an most of us have removed carbon before but, years ago, I'd guess about 55 or so years ago an old mechanic removed the air breather off of my Plymouth Valiant car while holding a coca cola bottle full of water in his hand. The engine was a Dodge slant 6. At the time I was a young guy and was shocked when he had me crank the engine and he controlled the Throttle by hand as I watched. He reeved the engine and started slowly pouring the water down through the carb. Just before the motor died he'd stop the water. He said that removed carbon. It did seem like the motor smoothed out. Has anyone else seen or heard about anything like this? A chainsaw is a lot smaller plus it's not 4 cycle. I've never seen anyone try that on a saw. Even a few drops of cold water might damage a saw. Just wondering if. IF, IF, IF

 

[ATH]

You sure that wasn't kerosene...or everclear in his bottle?

 

[Okie294life]

If you run the right mix at the recommended rate there shouldn’t be any carbon. I’d be so inclined not to put anything into a small engine, it would be real easy to hydro lock one. Anyone that’s ever ran a bike into water and drowned it out could tell you more. I know in severe cases it can bend connecting rods.

 

[arathol]

Thats not unheard of. A bit of water sent through the intake cools the surfaces in the combustion chamber rapidly and can flake off the carbon deposits. In effect its not unlike steam cleaning. It does work as long as you know just how much water you can inject before it kills the combustion and hydrolocks the engine.

 

[Wow]

If you run the right mix at the recommended rate there shouldn’t be any carbon. I’d be so inclined not to put anything into a small engine, it would be real easy to hydro lock one. Anyone that’s ever ran a bike into water and drowned it out could tell you more. I know in severe cases it can bend connecting rods.

Back in the day I've removed mufflers off Chainsaw and taken the metal mesh out. I've seen it carbon coated. Id take a hammer and hit the screen to break the carbon up. Since 2015 I've not pulled my muffers and found any carbon. I started running Echo saws. I just sold a cs352 today. New saw. A guy wanted one and I phoned my dealer for him. Since it's old stock the dealer said he'd let it go for 200. I really enjoy my cs 352 but IF I were buying I'd pay the extra 59.99 and get the cs3510. I guess either way he'll get a decent saw. If I understood correctly he was told since it's old stock the warranty is only 1 year. The only time I need Warranty I got laughed out of Dodge City. At 75 im working less. Probably couldn't wear out an Echo before I leave this world anyway. I've watched saws evolve. Still have an old McCullough Eager Beaver Ill never use. I needs gas and oil lines. I'd give it away to the person who could fix it just so someone could enjoy that little saw. But around here no one cares about old saws. Have a great day.

 

[3000 FPS]

I have never seen water used but I have seen transmission fluid used. Back in those days transmission fluid had a lot of detergent in it.

Like previously posted I would not try that on a single cylinder 2 stroke engine. For one if you wash away any oil it would start to score the cylinder.

 

[KarlP]

I'd never do water injection on a 2-stroke. If you get unlucky you just steam cleaned all the oil out of the engine. If you want to squirt something in there to decarbon, use Seafoam or an outboard decarbon spray. Those should be 2-stroke safe.

 

[DutchWoodPecker]

New high end BMWs actually have a water injection system, but that is to increase the engine power, and not to prevent carbon build up:
https://www.bmw-m.com/en/topics/magazine-article-pool/5-litres-of-water-for-500-horses.html

 

[BrettS]

Anyone that’s ever ran a bike into water and drowned it out could tell you more.

Been there, took me ages to pull the bike out of the waterhole, even more time to get it running again. I didn't have any tools and a very tired leg when I got it running again.

 

[Porosonik]

Ever see the insides of a water-injected (ADI) aircraft? Squeaky clean. Thermal shock knocks the deposits loose. Since water doesn't lubricate all that well it's probably not a good idea in a 2 stroke.

Porosonik.

 

[Doorfx]

I was taught to do that back in the day when I was apprenticing at a GM dealership in the late 70’s. Always seemed to help the old carb engines with leaded fuel.
I would not try it on a 2 stroke.

A little elbow grease lol.

 

[Porosonik]

I was taught to do that back in the day when I was apprenticing at a GM dealership in the late 70’s. Always seemed to help the old carb engines with leaded fuel.
I would not try it on a 2 stroke.

Worked great on old aircooled VWs. Used to have a couple of them when I lived in Phoenix, which unfortunately required a smog check before registration renewal. Mine was due in February which meant a built in problem in finding the time to get it ready for smog check. Step one in getting it to pass was running some water through it and cleaning the crud out. Step two was to put on the other set of heat exchangers which were only used for smog check. These had been "modded" by drilling a series of 3/8" holes through the outter sheet metal and into the exhaust passage. The outside holes were covered with a welded on patch. During smog check, I'd turn the heater on, which forced engine cooling air into the exhaust, diluting the exhaust being sampled. Made the Smog Nazis happy because it really lowered the HCs. Old VWs were notoriously dirty HC wise. I hope the Statute of Limitations has expired by now!

Porosonik.

 

[vision976]

Back in the day I've removed mufflers off Chainsaw and taken the metal mesh out. I've seen it carbon coated. Id take a hammer and hit the screen to break the carbon up. Since 2015 I've not pulled my muffers and found any carbon. I started running Echo saws. I just sold a cs352 today. New saw. A guy wanted one and I phoned my dealer for him. Since it's old stock the dealer said he'd let it go for 200. I really enjoy my cs 352 but IF I were buying I'd pay the extra 59.99 and get the cs3510. I guess either way he'll get a decent saw. If I understood correctly he was told since it's old stock the warranty is only 1 year. The only time I need Warranty I got laughed out of Dodge City. At 75 im working less. Probably couldn't wear out an Echo before I leave this world anyway. I've watched saws evolve. Still have an old McCullough Eager Beaver Ill never use. I needs gas and oil lines. I'd give it away to the person who could fix it just so someone could enjoy that little saw. But around here no one cares about old saws. Have a great day.

Back in the day I've removed mufflers off Chainsaw and taken the metal mesh out. I've seen it carbon coated. Id take a hammer and hit the screen to break the carbon up. Since 2015 I've not pulled my muffers and found any carbon. I started running Echo saws. I just sold a cs352 today. New saw. A guy wanted one and I phoned my dealer for him. Since it's old stock the dealer said he'd let it go for 200. I really enjoy my cs 352 but IF I were buying I'd pay the extra 59.99 and get the cs3510. I guess either way he'll get a decent saw. If I understood correctly he was told since it's old stock the warranty is only 1 year. The only time I need Warranty I got laughed out of Dodge City. At 75 im working less. Probably couldn't wear out an Echo before I leave this world anyway. I've watched saws evolve. Still have an old McCullough Eager Beaver Ill never use. I needs gas and oil lines. I'd give it away to the person who could fix it just so someone could enjoy that little saw. But around here no one cares about old saws. Have a great day.

Wow: I have two old McCulloch mini macs I maintain and use on a regular basis, a Mini-Mac 35 and a 120. I believe the Mini-Mac 35 to be the lightest chainsaw made at about 7.5 lbs. The 120 is heaver due to the anti-kickback bar and system which is ridiculous on a saw of that size and power. I removed the anti-kickback mechanism and reduced the 120's weight to about 8.5 lbs without it. I hike a lot here in the NorthWest (WA) and the Forest Service doesn't have the funds or people enough to clear all the trails in the spring from the deadfalls that came down in the Autumn storms. So I backpack the little McCulloch saws with a quart of fuel, pint of bar oil, wrench, screwdriver and a file to sharpen with. If you really want to give your McCulloch Eager Beaver 3 away, I'd be happy to pay you for shipping and will give it a good home. I have a Stihl 041 Super I've owned for 40 years, too. The SEM electronic ignition just died so I'm in the process of repairing that with either points or a good ignition coil from another saw.

Attached is a picture from last summer where the 120's bar got pinched at the bottom of a cut through a large log across a trail. I had to hike back to the car to retrieve the mini-mac 35 to free up the 120.

Let me know if you want to ship your Eager Beaver to me and I'll pay for it. I like old saws and machines that still perform useful work.

Thanks,
John

 

[Wow]

PM me. It's going to be a while but ill have to dig through storage. The var is like 14 inches Open slot on the back. I'm past messing with old stuff including women. Don't mean I don't have some blue hair lady friends. Lots of em. I enjoy their voices, smiles and laughter. I enjoy joking around and older ladies are settled enough to hold good conversations and laugh at my lame jokes. Most old guys get cranky including my 3 brothers who mostly tolerate me. I'm in Louisiana near Bossier City. You might want to check in the best way to ship it and the cost from Bossier or Shreveport to your location. This group has a way to send me a message. If you do get it running maybe you could past a video. I think I bought it about 1995/6. I was on a 40 day fast and cut a small tree inside a big thicket. Someone the saw caught on something and hit my right hip. I just knew it had cut me badly but when I looked it had cut all way through my Jeans but not a scratch on me. I thought maybe that was a miracle. I've had a lot of close calls. Seems I have extremely good fortune. I'm just stupid enough to believe it more than luck. Have a great day. Blessings